Ladies hose support



LADIES HOSE SUPPORT Filed July 22, 1966 2 FVG. x.

FVG. .3. /0

INVENTOR. eo/V.40 ,FEA/wanel TTOENEYS United States Patent 3,491,416LADIES HSE SUPPORT Ronald P. Fenwick, 37 George St., Kentville, NovaScotia, Canada Filed July 22, 1966, Ser. No. 567,164 Int. Cl. A44b21/00;A41f 11/00 U.S.. Cl. 24--245 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A at claspfor supporting ladies hose, said clasp being designed not to benoticable when worn beneath 'thin garment materials, in combination witha suspension web having a terminal end secured at the upper portion ofthe clasp, said clasp having llexible front and rear sections secured toeach other at their upper ends, having groove means provided in anintermediate Portion of said section for flexing purposes, nesting meansprovided in the lower portion for engaging and securing said hose withinthe clasp.

This invention relates to an openable clasp for temporary attachmen toflexible sheeting7 and more particularly to a ladies hose supportincorporating such a clasp.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a device of thiskind, wherein the clasp is composed of a minimal number of simplecomponents, the clasp being flat and of substantially reduced crosssection and height, so as to preclude its showing under thin materialgarments, the clasp being specifically designed for low cost andefficient production, from thermoplastic materials, employing ultrasonicwelding for the assembly of its cornponents.

Another object of the invention is the provision, in a device of thecharacter indicated above, of a clasp which employs th integralflex-hinge principle, which serves t0 facilitate manufacture andassembly of the components of the clasp; and to assure its trouble freeand accurate opening and closing by the user of the clasp, wherein abutton is engaged into and out of a socket, for securely grippingflexible sheeting, such as ladies hose.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a clasp of thecharacter indicated above, wherein the cornponents of the clasp arespeciiically designed to provide for their side edges to be variouslycontoured to represent decorative forms, such as a heart, for example,the clasp being susceptible of being made in various colors and surfaceornamentations, without substantial increases in cost of production.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary front elevation, showing a ladies hose supportattached to hose, the front cornponent of the clasp being shown, in fulllines, and its rear component, in phantom lines;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section, taken on the line 2 2 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is an edge elevation of the clasp, showing the same in openposition;

FIGURE 4 is a front view of the front component of the clasp;

FIGURE 5 is an edge elevation of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a front elevation of the rear component of the clasp; and,

FIGURE 7 is an edge elevation of FIGURE 6.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the illustrated device comprises avertical length of elastic webbing 10, to whose lower end portion issecured a clasp 12 of the present invention.

13 Claims The clasp 12 comprises a vertically elongated front section 14having a lower end portion 16 which is pref.

erably narrower than its upwardly flaring fan-shaped upper end portion18. The portion 16 and 18 are connected together by an intermediateportion 20, which is preferably narrower than the portions 16 and 18.The side edges 22, common to the upper end portion 18 and theintermediate portion 20, are adapted to be decoratively contoured, inany desired manner or form.

The front section 14 is of at, relatively thin, but structurally strongthermoplastic material of preferably one piece or unit construction byconventional techniques, the intermediate portion 20 and the upperportion 18 being of the same thickness. The lower end portion 16, thelower part of which has preferably 'a semicircular lower end 24, is ofincreased thickness, and extends read wardly relative to the remainderof the front section 14, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 5.

The upper end of the lower end portion 16 is defined by a concavehorizontal rearwardly opening groove 26, whose presence results in areduced thickness self-hinge 28.

The lower end portion 16 is formed with a concentric substantiallycircular socket 30 therethrough, which has a straight chordal horizontallower edge 32, which is angled rearwardly and downwardly. Uppertriangular lugs 31 on the edge 33 of the socket 30, and lower elongatedarcuate lugs 35, on the socket edge, are circumferentially spaced fromeach other, around the socket. The lugs 31 and 35 are, as shown inFIGURE 5, located in the same vertical plane, adjacent to the rear sideof the lower end portion 16, and are spaced from the front side oftheportion 16.

The upper end portion 1S is formed in its rear side, with symmetricallydistributed and spaced recesses 36, which are provided to receive lugs3S on the rear section 40 of the clasp 12.

The rear clasp section 40 has a fan-shaped upper end portion 42, similarto the upper end portion 18 of the front clasp section 14, but providedon its front surface, with a bead which has portions 44 which extendalong its side edges, and a horizontal lower portion 46, which extendsbetween the lower ends of the side portions 44. The upper end portion 42has the lugs 38 thereon which extend forwardly beyond the bead portionsand engage in the recesses 36, of the front section 14, with the beadportion engaging the rear surface thereof, so as to define a fan-sbapedrecess Stl, in which is enclosed and confined, a suitably shaped lowerend portion 52, of the elastic webbing 10, through which the lugs 38have been passed. This arrangement, with the recess 50 being of a depthto compress the elastic webbing, assures secure and multipointattachment of the webbing to the clasp. Further, through ultrasonicwelding of the upper end portions of the sections of the clasp together,subsequent to their assembly, the front and rear clasp sections aresecurely assembled.

The rear clasp section 40 is of thermoplastic material of preferably onepiece or unit construction by conventional techniques and has anintermediate portion 54, of substantially the same thickness as theintermediate portion 20 of the front clasp section 14, but is ofsomewhat greater width. The upper end of the intermediate portion 54 isreduced in width where it meets the upper end portion 42, as indicatedat 56.

The lower end portion 58, of the rear clasp section 40, is narrower thanthe intermediate portion 54, and has straight, substantially parallelside edges `60, which converge downwardly at their lower ends, asindicated at 62.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 7, a lower part of the lower end portion 58 isincreased in thickness, as indicated at 64, so as to provide a forwardlyextending vertical rib on the forward side of which is formed asubstantially circular button 66, of substantially the diameter of thesocket 30 of the yfront clasp section 14. The lower edge of the button66 is straight and chor-dal and horizontal, and is beveled upwardly, asindicated at 68, so as to provide for its engagement over the ch-ordallower edge 32 of the socket 30.

In use and operation, the clasp 12 is applied to ilexible sheeting, suchas ladies hose H, by passing the rear clasp section 40 down behind thehose and the front section 14 down in front of the hose, and hinging thefront section forwardly, as indicated in FIGURE 3, while bending therear section 40 rearwardly, in a manner to engage the lower end of thebutton 66 between the upper and lower lugs in the socket 30. This causesa portion 70 of the material of the hose H to be pushed through thesocket 36 between the upper and lower lugs 31 and 35, respectively. Thesections of the clasp 12 are then squeezed together, so that the button66, covered by the hose material, is worked into the socket 30, behindthe lugs 31, 35, so that the clasp 12 becomes securely fastened to the'-hose H.

In order to release the clasp 12 from the hose H, the front section 14is pushed upwardly, as by pressure of a linger under its lower end, sothat the clasp sections hinge away from each other, and the button 66 ismoved out of the socket 30, and frees the hose.

As shown in FIGURE 2, clasp 12 provides a rear section 4i? with anexternal surface which lays llat against an underlying surface, such asthe thigh of a leg. Front section 14 similarly has a ilat externalsurface which is not impaired or broken after engagement with rearsection 40 so as not to be noticeable when worn beneath thin garmentmaterials.

What is claimed is:

1. A clasp of the character described, comprising a front section and arear section, said sections being of flexible material, said sectionshaving upper end portic-ns, intermediate portions, and lower endportions, means securing upper end portions together in registeredrelationship, wherein the intermediate and lower end portions of saidsections are adapted to be moved away from each other to an openposition of the clasp, the lower end portion of the front section beingthicker than the remainder of the front section, said lower end portionbeing formed of a substantially circular socket, the lower end portionof the rear section being thicker than the remainder of the rear sectionand formed with a forwardly extending substantially circular button ofsubstantially the same diameter as said socket, said button beingadapted to be pushed into the socket, said front section being formed,between its intermediate portion and its lower end portion, with atransverse rearwardly opening groove indenting the rear side of thefront section, said groove defining a reduced thickness area serving asan integral hinge, said hinged front section having areas above andbelow the hinge disposed at an angle relative to each other, and therear section is fixed intermediate its ends to dispose upper and lowerareas thereof at an angle relative to each other, with the button of therear section in position to engage the socket of the front section, theupper end portion of the rear section having a forwardly extending bead,said bead having side portions extending along the side edges of theupper end portion of the rear section, and a horizontal portionextending between the lower ends of said side portions, said bead beingengaged with the rear side of the upper end portion of the frontsection, so as to dene between the rear side of the upper end portion ofthe front section, the front side of the upper end portion of the rearsection and said bead, an enclosing recess adapted to receive theterminal end of a ilexible suspension web, and means securing the upperend portions of the sections together.

2. The clasp according to claim l, wherein the upper end portion of thefront section having a plurality of rearwardly opening recesses, and theupper end portion of the rear section having a plurality of lugs whichwill reach forwardly beyond said bead and engage in the recesses, thelugs being adapted to be passed through a web engaged in the enclosingrecess.

3. The clasp according to claim 2, wherein said upper end portions ofthe sections are of thermoplastic material secured together by means ofsupersonic welding.

4. The clasp according to claim 2, wherein the edge of said socket isformed with spaced pair of Iupper lugs and a spaced pair of lower lugs,the lugs being circumferentially spaced around the socket, and spacedfrom the front side of the lower end portion of the front section, thebutton being adapted to be initially passed forwardly between the upperand lower lugs, into the socket, and engaged in the socket in front ofthe lugs.

5. The clasp according to claim '7, wherein said upper end portions ofthe sections are of thermoplastic material secured together by means ofsupersonic welding.

6. The clasp according to claim 1, wherein the edge of said socket isformed with a spaced pair of upper lugs and a spaced pair of lower lugs,the lugs being circumferentially spaced around the socket, and spacedfrom the front side of the lower end portion of the front section, thebutton being adapted to be initially passed forwardly between the upperand lower lugs, into the socket, and engaged in the socket in front ofthe lugs.

7. In combination, a suspension web having a terminal end, a fiat claspfor supporting ladies hose and designed not to be noticeable when wornunder thin garment materials consisting of thin, flexible, front andrear sections of unit construction which lcooperate to form ilattenedexternal surfaces after engagement, said sections being secured to eachother at their upper end portions including means for securing said webterminal end, said upper portie-n of one section including a pluralityof rearwardly opening recesses, and the upper portion of the othersection includes a plurality of lugs extending forwardly engaging therecesses of the other section, said lugs being adapted to secure saidweb, said web having cooperative means for engaging said lugs passingthrough, said sections having intermediate and lower end portions, saidintermediate portion having integral flex-hinge means permitting theareas above and below said hinge to be disposed at an angle relative toeach other, said lower end portion having nesting components adapted tosecurably nest with each other and said hose and comprising asubstantially circular socket formed in one section and a substantiallycircular button formed on the other section, said socket and buttonbeingcooperatively formed so that the button may be engaged into and out ofthe socket, both button and socket being of substantially the samediameter and thickness so as to provide ilat external surfaces afterengagement.

8. The combination of claim 7, wherein said front section and rearsection comprises thermoplastic material, said hinge means comprising atransverse rearwardly opening groove defining a reduced thickness areato permit areas above and below the hinge to be disposed at an anglerelative to each other thereby providing flexing.

9. The combination of claim 8, wherein the upper end portion includes aforwardly extending bead, said bead having side portions extending alongthe side edges of the upper end portion of the section, and a horizontalportion extending between the lower ends of said side portion,s saidbead being engaged with a rear side of the upper end portion of theother section sov as to define an enclosing recess between the sectionsfor receiving the terminal end of a flexible suspension web.

10. The combination of claim 9, wherein said socket includes a spacedpair of upper lugs and a spaced pair of lower lugs circumferentiallyspaced around the socket edge, the button being adapted to initiallypass forwardly between the upper and lower lugs engaging said socket andlugs, said socket and button having similarly upwardly beveled straighthorizontal lower edges which meet after engagement.

11. A thin flat clasp for supporting ladies hose and designed not to benoticeable when worn under thin garment materials consisting of thinflexible front and rear sections of unit construction cooperating toform flattened external surfaces after closure, said sections beingsecured to each other at their upper end portions including means forsecuring the terminal end of a Web, said upper portion of one sectionincluding a plurality of rearwardly opening recesses, and the otherportion of the other section including a plurality of forwardlyextending lugs adapted to engage in the recesses of the other sectionand secure the upper end portions of each section together in registeredrelationship thereby permitting the remaining portions to move apartfrom each other to an open position, said sections having intermediateand lower end portions, said intermediate portion having integralHex-hinge means including a transverse reduced thickness area forming agroove which serves as an integral hinge thereby permitting the portionabove said groove to be flexed at an angle relatice to the portionbelow, said lower end portion having nesting components including asocket located in the front section having a plurality of lugscircumferentially spaced around the edge of said socket, and a button onthe rear section, said socket and button having similarly beveledstraight horizontal lower edges permitting said button to pass throughsaid socket -between said lugs thereby engaging said socket at thebevel, said button and socket being substantially circular and havingsubstantially the sarne diameter and thickness thereby providing atfront and rear external surfaces after closure.

12. The -clasp of claim 11, wherein the upper portion of one sectionincludes a raised bead projecting in a plane normal to the flat surfaceof said section and extending along the edges of said upper portion andhaving a horizontal portion extending between the lower ends of saidside portion, said bead Ibeing opposingly secured to the upper endportion of the other section so as to dene an enclosing recess betweensaid sections adapted to receive the terminal end of a exible suspensionweb, said lugs and bead positioned on the same section, said lugsextending forwardly beyond said bead.

13. A clasp according to claim 12, wherein said upper end portions ofthe sections are of thermoplastic material secured together by means ofsupersonic welding.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 267,943 11/ 1882 Shelby 24-245853,758 5/ 1907 Binney 24--245 1,145,939 7/ 1915 Stuart 24-245 2,258,60510/ 1941 Garth 24-245 3,127,656 4/ 1964 Schwabe et al 24-246 3,139,6627/ 1964 Barton 24-246 3,247,848 4/ 1966 Mathison.

FOREIGN PATENTS 4,871 1909 Great Britain.

1,277,149 10/ 1961 France.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

